Twist
by CaptainPumpkinPie
Summary: John, Dave, Rose, and Jade volunteer at the Veil, a fearsome asylum, and meet twelve trolls with very psychotic tendencies. But some of the trolls are too involved with them - and John can't shake Vriska Serket, confirmed sociopath, from his mind. Sometimes the asylum treats insanity, but other times, the asylum breeds insanity. Mildly heavy themes. JohnVris, Davezi
1. Welcome Home

I'm John Egbert. I'm scared.

I'm afraid because me and my friends Dave, Rose, and Jade signed up to volunteer at the Veil, which is what everyone calls the Alternian Institute for the Mentally Unstable.

The Veil is huge, occupying a massive space. There's the main building, where all of the patients are, a medical facility for serious procedures, a penetentiary where the more extreme residents live, and a boarding house for the guards and doctors. Dave gunned his brother's car up the winding drive and parked in a shady spot outside the main building.

The four of us headed inside. It was incredibly cold in the building, raising goose bumps on my arms. The reception area was ringed with a battalion of hard metal chairs. A wide desk barred us from the door that led into the main part of the asylum, manned by a busty nurse.

"Oh, dearies, you must be the volunteers," she gushed. We moved forward cautiously. "I'm Ms. Paint, the head nurse here. Just give me a moment..."

She tapped away at a typewriter, which is particularly strange, since a working computer was also set up on the desk. I didn't ask because Ms. Paint beckoned for us to follow her.

The inner asylum was predictably white - white floors, white walls, white ceilings, white-clad nurses, white-coated doctors. I trailed after Ms. Paint and occasionally glanced into the rooms lining the hall. Most of the patients were trolls, quiet and calm. As far as I can tell.

"So, Ms. Paint, what exactly are we going to be doing?" I stammered out, afraid of the answer.

"Don't worry, dear." She gave me a tight smile. "Most of our patients aren't very dangerous. You'll mostly be on lunch duty. Come along."

We arrived in an empty, typically white cafeteria. Bypassing the polished tables, we entered a locked side door and found ourselves in a gleaming kitchen. A burly man dressed in black slaved away at the stove.

"This is Chef Boxcar," Ms. Paint said, gesturing to him.

"Call me Hearts," the chef spat. He positioned a heavy pot on the burner. "None of that Chef bullshit."

"Not in front of the children, Chef," Ms. Paint tutted. "They'll be helping you for now. Don't let anything happen to them, or so help me..."

"Alright, alright, calm yerself," he admonished, checking the wall clock. "Look at the time. Damn. The crazies will be down in ten minutes. Get to work, you four!"

Ms. Paint departed. I was charged with peeling potatoes, Dave got stuck chopping carrots, and Rose and Jade began pulling down bowls and silverware. Hearts's soup smelled delicious. As the sound of the cafeteria being filled, Hearts gave us our next order: Pass out the meals to the patients.

I swallowed hard. The thought of coming so close to a diagnosed sociopath of some kind made my skin crawl, but the others didn't seem bothered, so I wouldn't be, either. I took a tray with three bowls of soup and three dinner rolls in my lightly shaking hands.

I'd been told before that after an electrical fire a few years back, the asylum's numbers had dropped to less than thirty; therefore I was unsurprised when I only saw about a dozen patients, all trolls. I drew in a deep breath and stopped at the nearest table. The patients there were not restrained in any way, but the guards hovering between the tables made me feel a lot better.

I set the food down in front of three trolls. The one closest to me had long hair, ram-like horns, and blank, haunted eyes. She blinked but did not speak. The troll opposite her, a male, lisped "Thankth" when he received his food. The third troll was a sad sight. He was in a wheelchair, and judging by his thin, emaciated legs, he was paralyzed. His face was drawn in a heartbreakingly sad expression.

Backing away, I returned to the kitchen to find Dave, Jade, and Rose helping the chef clean up. Dave's sunglasses fixed on me. "Hey, man, you don't mind serving the rest of the food, do you?"

I did mind, but I grinned and said, "I'm on it!"

The next trolls I catered to were sitting opposite each other, a boy and a girl. The boy, with rings under his yellow eyes and a bony build, glared at the girl, who cackled in response. Her eyes were stained red. After a second, I realized she was blind.

They didn't respond when I served the food, and I was glad. Moving on, I thought, wheeling the food cart to the next trolls. Two females and a male. One smiled unnervingly at me, her pupils indicating that she was of olive blood. The other female, a jade blood, thanked me politely. The third troll was also in a wheelchair, but not because his body was weak - it looked like he was strapped to the iron chair because his body was too strong. Muscles bulging, he waited for a guard to assist him when his food was served.

I came to another pair, both seadwellers. The boy, brooding, kept his eyes downcast as I slid a bowl toward him. The girl, chipper as all get out, brightened visibly. "Soup? I GLUB soup!"

I grinned again and faced the last two trolls. They were both sitting by themselves at the two farthest tables, surrounded by guards. So these were the most dangerous ones. Throat too dry to swallow, I wheeled the cart forward.

The troll girl was closest, so I navigated in that direction. A fanged smirk played on her lips. Her pupils indicated that she had cobalt-blue blood, and I paused to stare at her eyes for a moment. I counted seven pupils in one eye before moving forward again.

"Thank you." She seemed polite enough, or at least well mannered. The only thing about her that belonged in an institution was her smile - steel-edged and weirdly seductive. I shuddered and nodded in acknowledgement.

The final troll was male. His hair was wild, his eyes were lazy, and he seemed very laid-back. Not dangerous at all. But the heavy amount of armed guards flanking him suggested otherwise, so I came close enough to give him his lunch. Unlike the others, he had metal cuffs securing his hands behind his back. Purple blood stained the white top and pants ensemble the patients wore.

As I was heading back for the kitchen, a guard clapped me on the shoulder. "Good work, kid. I can't look that one in the eyes sometimes."

"T-thanks." I reviewed the white-clad residents.

He noticed my stare and smiled. "Wondering what they're all in for, huh? You'll learn pretty quick. I'll tell you about this one, though." He fixed a contemptuous gaze on the wild-haired troll. "Gamzee Makara. Fucking psycho. Doctors have him down as a confirmed sociopath, and on top of that, he's got intermittent explosive disorder - IED. Means he gets pissed off about stuff and loses his head, but I mean _really _loses his head. Know how he got in here? He got on the goddamn subway, lost his goddamn keys, and went crazy. Killed nine people, and no one could do a damn thing to stop him."

I shivered at the thought. Nine people? Jesus. I shook off the images and pointed to the girl with eight pupils, asking, "What about her?"

He made a face. "Vriska Serket? Docs say she's a fucking sociopath too, as well as a pathological gambler - not that you have to worry about that. Personally, I think she has some split personality shit too. One day I go in and she's all smiles and the next, she's trying to stab me with a spoon."

"Yikes." But I was intrigued. I looked back at Vriska Serket, who was not eating, but staring off into space. The smile was gone.

"I'm John, by the way."

"Mark. See you around, kid."

I made my way back into the kitchen. Clean-up was done, and everyone was lounging, waiting for lunch to be done so the dishes could be collected.

After the patients left, some guards flooded the kitchen for their own lunch. I nosed around until I'd pieced together all of the patient's medical files.

There was Aradia Megido, who had severe schizophrenia - so severe that she swore she saw ghosts, and no amount of medication could sway her from this resolve. Sollux Captor was a diagnosed bipolar, with one personality that was calm and another that was rude and sometimes violent. Poor Tavros Nitram, after an accident that had made his legs useless, was on suicide watch with advanced depression.

Karkat Vantas suffered from schizoid personality disorder. He appeared normal, if you counted a very sour attitude normal, but his coldness, apathy, and social distancing said otherwise. He had the potential to go suicide. Terezi Pyrope had lost her vision to chemicals and developed PTSD and mild schizophrenia. She also seemed fine at first glance, despite her emotional traumas.

Nepeta Leijon, the sweetest patient they'd ever seen, had depersonalization, where she felt as if she lived outside of herself. She only referred to herself in the third person. Kanaya Maryam was under the influence of perfectionism, making it impossible for her to function without worrying about the most minuscule details. Meanwhile, Equius Zahhak had general anxiety disorder, or GAD. Just about every situation made him panic and sweat profusely. Because of his freakish strength, he was required to be strapped down, preventing him from freaking out and hurting someone.

Eridan Ampora was another hard case, sporting separation anxiety disorder. Being away from the people he was attached to made him depressed and often times violent; even some nurses triggered the disorder. He and Feferi Peixes were victims of a shared psychosis, meaning Feferi had managed to convince him that her schizophrenic fantasy of living in an underwater castle instead of a mental institution was real.

Vriska Serket and Gamzee Makara were the subjects of the guards' curses more often than not. Mr. Makara was the worst, because of his violent, unpredictable rages. He'd put several guards in the hospital already. Miss Serket was also incredibly violent and seemed to have little conscience - most of the time. Other times she was just a tad foul-mouthed at best.

Once the guards were gone, and the kitchen was clean, Hearts sent us to his friend, Diamonds, the head guard. Everyone else called him Officer Droog. He, like Hearts, was sheathed in black, and patrolling the corridors with a slightly bored look on his face.

"Officer Droog." Dave took the lead. "Chef Boxcar told us to go to you for our next assignment."

"So you're the volunteers." His voice was low and smooth. "Good. Not a lot of people like to lend a hand over here, you know. Follow me."

We set off down another bland hallway. As we went, Droog spoke. "We're pretty understaffed as of late, so we'll need you to help in the laundry room."

The laundry room was cramped and warm, every surface layered with white linen. Diamonds stopped at the door. "I need two of you to start washing and two more to deliver these clean clothes to the rooms. Think you can handle it?"

We nodded. He left, and Rose and Jade immediately began throwing dirty clothes into the washing machine. I swore there was a snide smile on Rose's lips. Dave punched me on the shoulder, already wheeling a linen cart into the hall. I gripped the other cart and rolled it outside.

We went our separate ways. I was incredibly nervous again at the thought of being close to the patients, but the guards in the halls were comforting. I looked down. The first outfit in the cart had "Tavros Nitram" stitched to the breast. A guard directed me to Tavros's room, and I set off for it, remembering the distant, sad face Tavros wore, out of place with his tufty mohawk.

Tavros's door was open. The guard next to the room just motioned for me to go inside, and I did. The room had nothing but a very small bed, a dresser, and Tavros. He was in his wheelchair, wrists strapped down. I guessed it was because he was alone.

"H-hi," I stuttered, placing his clothes in the dresser. Tavros didn't respond, eyes downcast, grey skin sallow under the flourescent light. "Bye."

I hightailed it out of there. The guard gave me a funny look and directed me to Kanaya Maryam's room. The room was almost too clean, shiny even. The bed was made so meticulously I wondered if she had an iron hidden in the room somewhere. Kanaya sat in a chair beside her bed, legs crossed, chair turned at just the right angle. She met my eyes and said pleasantly, "Please leave my laundry on top of the dresser, if you wouldn't mind."

I did as I was asked, tipped my Alternian Institute cap to her, and left. I checked a map on the wall to find Eridan's room.

It turned out that Eridan and Feferi were in the same room, to help Eridan's separation anxiety disorder. It didn't help their shared psychosis. As soon as I entered, it became obvious that they were in a different world.

"Oh, look, Eridan! A visitor to our kingdom! What is a landdweller doing beneath the sea?" Feferi's bubbly voice and expression was extremely unnerving.

Eridan gave me a cursory glance. "I don't knoww, Fef. He's probably a servant boy. Wwell, go on, servant."

They were on separate beds, staring at me intently as I left their clothes in their dressers. As I was leaving, Feferi added, "Goodbye, landdweller!"

I shuddered a little. "Goodbye, Princess. Prince."

They were extremely pleased by this.

Next on my list was Sollux Captor. Thankfully he was asleep, or pretending to be asleep, so I deposited the garments and headed out quickly. Last on my rounds was the patient I'd been half-hoping-for half-dreading. Vriska Serket. Her room was deeper in the facility, with high-security and lots of guards. I steeled myself.

Guards lined the hallway her room was in. When I approached, one guard, carrying an assualt rifle, accompanied me inside. Vriska was seated in the chair by her bed. Her wrists were handcuffed together, and she looked vaguely bored. She brightened when I came closer. With a glare from the guard, she said nothing, but her smile was aimed at me.

I returned a shaky grin and set the clothes down on the bed, since she had no dresser to speak of. Probably couldn't be trusted with one. She made no move to attack me, and even said goodbye as I left.

Mark the guard was passing by as I emerged. "Ouch, laundry duty?"

"Yep. All done now, though."

He gave me a fatherly pat on the back and noticed where I'd come from. "Jeez, Vriska Serket on your first day?"

I felt like I had to defend her for some reason. "She's not that bad, as far as I can tell. Hasn't done anything but say thank you and goodbye all day."

"That's the trick, kid," he warned. "Don't let your guard down around her or Makara. See you."

"Bye."

I returned to the laundry room. Dave wasn't back yet, and Rose and Jade were folding clothes.

"How was it?" Jade asked curiously.

I ran a hand through my hair. "It's terrifying. Man, I kind of wish they were all screeching and trying to kill me sometimes. They're all just so . . . normal."

Rose nodded. "Understandable. Fortunately, as soon as Dave is finished, we'll be leaving."

"Thank god. You guys got the easy stuff."

Dave wheeled in his empty cart and we departed for the reception area. Ms. Paint thanked us fervently and signed our volunteer papers, confirming the hours we'd worked. Walking out into the sun again was a relief, and yet, oddly enough, I felt the asylum's presence looming behind me and I almost wanted to be there. Shaking off the feeling, I crawled into Dave's front seat and leaned back.

The Veil drew my eyes all the way off the property.


	2. The Doctor is In

**Thank you all for the lovely reviews! I'm sorry this took so long, but I went to Supercon this weekend and I'm beat :/**

**I toughed it out for you guys. Keep being awesome!**

* * *

"Welcome back, dear," Ms. Paint said with a twinkling smile. "Where are your friends today?"

"They have exams today, but they'll be back in an hour or so."

She stood. "What lovely helpers you all are. Come now."

I'd remembered to bring a jacket this time around, so the chill didn't bother me as much. We charted a course for what looked like a small lab. Metal tables littered with bottles of pills and syringes used up much of the floor space. White coats hung on the wall, labeled with unfamiliar names.

"Here we are." Ms. Paint handed me a silver tray loaded with medication. "I need you to take these to every room. The nurses will be waiting, so don't worry about who gets what."

"Yes, ma'am." I hurried out into the hall. The closest room was Aradia's. Her nurse, a young woman, took a few bottles of pills and sent me on my way.

Room to room I went, the tray getting lighter with each stop. Sometimes I saw doctors speaking to patients, like a therapy session of some kind. I wondered what they talked about.

Gamzee Makara had more drugs to take than anyone else; he was probably best off doped up. He grinned lazily at me when his doctor received the meds. Unnerved, I backed away and found Ms. Paint in the halls.

"All done?" She gave me her trademark grandma-smile and led me to the cafeteria to prepare for lunch. Dave, Jade, and Rose were also there.

"You're so lucky you exempted the exams today, man," Dave confided, setting a pot of boiling water on the stove. "I didn't answer at least fifteen questions."

"It wasn't that bad," Rose disagreed.

"Of course you would say that. You're a fucking genius."

"That's really an over exaggeration."

"Well, what's done is done," Dave sighed. "At least we have one week left of senior year, and then bam, freedom."

Rose snickered. "Freedom? I never would have guessed college was synonymous with 'freedom.'"

They bickered. Jade and I shared a knowing glance and helped Hearts, hearing the cafeteria filling up outside. This time the others came along when I wheeled the food cart to the tables. The trolls seemed calm, even Equius, who was barely sweating.

"Good afternoon," Kanaya said pleasantly. Rose returned the pleasantry with a smile.

I noticed Tavros look up at Jade with something close to actual interest; it was weird to see him without an agonized expression. Dave, bold as he was, even gave Terezi a fist bump as we passed. Her laugh was closer to a cackle.

Gamzee wasn't present today. I asked the nearest guard, who said, "IED. Crazy motherfucker is in his room, cooling down."

Vriska was also missing, but only because the high security section where her room was had locked down entirely. Gamzee's rages were not taken lightly around here. I hid my disappointment from my friends, who were glad that the two most dangerous patients were under lock and key.

We helped Hearts in the kitchen. As we worked, he told us more about the Veil.

"We used to have tons of people here, human and troll," he confided, scrubbing a pan. "But that fire a few years back was pretty bad — we had to remodel the entire facility. Lots of people died. Mostly patients. Now we've got twelve patients in here, and a handful in the penitentiary."

"Like who?"

He made a face. "Well, there's Jack Noir. Fucking serial killer extraordinaire. We used to be buddies, back before all that shit. I don't go anywhere near him nowadays. Then a few more run-of-the-mill psychos. All the trolls here in the main building are at least treatable. Of course, some of the guards want to toss Makara and Serket in the penitentiary, but Doc Scratch thinks they can be helped."

"Who's Doc Scratch?" asked Rose.

"He owns the facility, and he's the head doctor. You won't see a lot of him. He sometimes does group therapy sessions and occasional check-ups, but most of the time he's shut in his office with his paperwork. Busy guy."

"I can imagine," Rose agreed wisely.

Dave perched on the counter. "Anything else we should know about this place?"

Hearts looked like he wanted to say something, then bit his tongue. "Nothing you won't learn within the next few days."

I had the sneaking suspicion that he was lying, but I let it go. It was hard to work in an asylum. He was entitled to his secrets, as far as I was concerned. We left him to his work and found Ms. Paint again.

"Oh, there you all are! Doc Scratch wanted to see you in his office."

She gave us directions. Nervous, we climbed the stairs and found his tiny, cluttered office easily. Doc Scratch sat behind his desk, lab coat hung on the back of his chair, green suspenders fastened tightly. I'd seen pictures of him in the newspaper before, so his cue ball of a head did little to surprise me.

"Ah, you're here." He stood and shook hands with each of us, gesturing for us to have a seat and offering a bowl of some kind of licorice candy. Everyone politely declined.

Unfazed, he made himself comfortable in his chair again and folded his hands neatly. "I'm just so grateful to have your help around here. The Alternian Institute's reputation has been fitfully tarnished, unfortunately, and finding employees and volunteers in quite a struggle nowadays."

I stayed silent, as did the others. We honestly didn't know what to say to the charismatic gentleman.

"Still, I feel as if we should go over some policies here. Primarily, I'd like to remind you that any interaction with the patients outside of what's necessary to complete your task is prohibited."

My face warmed up. He was probably referring to Dave and Terezi's camaraderie, or maybe Tavros's interest in Jade. Whatever. We'd been caught and we were being scolded, like school children.

"The patients are in very delicate states of mind, and casual contact for you can be damaging for them."

Now my cheeks were _really _red, because he sure sounded like he was implying something way more invasive than friendship. Like we were _dying _to have sloppy make outs with people in a mental institute.

"Of course, sir." Rose was the only one who wasn't struck speechless by the doctor's implications.

"There's just one more issue I wanted to bring up." He twisted around to reach for something on the shelf behind him. The motion let his hip peak over the edge of the desk, and I caught sight of a magnum revolver in a white leather holster. Jesus. Why the hell was he carrying a gun? I knew the guards carried rifles that didn't shoot bullets, only tranquilizer darts.

He passed out what looked like black handguns with yellow handles. As he did so, he explained, "They're Tasers. The patients in this building aren't particularly violent, excluding Mr. Makara, of course," he chuckled wryly, "but it's best to be prepared for the worst."

I gingerly took the weapon in my hand. I wasn't huge on violence, but if he was insisting, I was in no position to say no. These people, I noted, were very good at getting me to do things I didn't want to. I stowed the Taser in my jacket pocket.

"I believe that's all." Doc Scratch shrugged on his lab coat. "I have a group session today. You are dismissed." He made for the door, held it open for us. "Actually, if one of you would be so kind, I need an assistant for the session. My usual assistant is on sick leave."

Their eyes fell on me. I held up both hands. "Aw, come on, guys."

"Sorry, Egbert." Dave draped one arm over Rose's shoulders and the other over Jade's, steering them to the door. "See you later."

"Lousy goddamn stupid womanizing best friend." I glared daggers at his back as they disappeared. Doc Scratch turned on his heel and started off down the corridor, handing me a clipboard as he did so.

"I'll need you to take notes while I work," he informed me. "Just catch the important parts."

I didn't know what the "important parts" would be, but I nodded anyway. We came to a sparsely furnished room. A ring of chairs, twelve in all (not including Tavros's and Equius's wheelchairs) took up the main space. Armed guards stood off to the sides. The twelve trolls were all seated, so the doctor and I filled in the two empty chairs. The session began.

I adjusted the legal paper in my clipboard, poised the pen over it, and listened closely as Doc Scratch spoke. "Good afternoon to all. Today we'll be having a 'direct approach' session."

Someone groaned; I think it was Sollux. Gamzee raised his shackled hands like a kid in school and asked, "What the mother fuck is that again?"

"Please clean up your language, Mr. Makara. But thank you for asking." He leaned closer to me and said, "Record that Mr. Makara's drug regime is affecting his short term memory."

I did as I was told to as Doc Scratch answered Gamzee's question. "In the direct approach, I will point out to you exactly what is wrong with you. Nonetheless, you will dispute whatever I say, but it's best for the patient to be accustomed to what they are ill with."

I started to dislike the doctor. Who told mentally unstable people that there was something wrong with them so bluntly? Jerk. I made sure my handwriting was barely readable, just to piss him off.

"We'll start with Mr. Nitram." Doc Scratch's cue-ball-head turned to Tavros, whose hands twisted against the armrests of his wheelchair. "Mr. Nitram, after taking a bullet to your spine that crippled you, you attempted to kill yourself through overdose. When that didn't work you were sent here. You have extreme depression. Do you disagree?"

Fat, orange-tinted tears peeked from his eyes, wobbled, and fell down his cheeks. No one said anything. Fuming, I noted, _You made a fourteen year old kid cry_.

Doc Scratch sighed, like this was all some huge burden on him. He nodded to a guard. "Take him to his room, and keep an eye on him. Alert his nurse that he's on seventy-two hour suicide watch."

The guard wheeled Tavros away, still crying. The pen was close to snapping in my hand.

"Miss Leijon. You have the worst case of depersonalization I have ever seen. Do you disagree?"

She giggled behind her hands. "Nepeta thinks Doctor Scratch is confusing her with someone else."

"Write that down," Doc Scratch murmured to me. He moved on. "Mr. Ampora, you were fated to be a noble in the underwater empire, as Miss Peixes was in line to be the empress. You were both nearly assassinated and moved above water for your own safety. Somehow you two have deluded yourselves into thinking you are still underwater. You also have separation anxiety disorder. Do you disagree?"

"Wwell, of course I fuckin' do." Eridan turned up his chin pompously. "I wwant to knoww howw the shell you all are breathin' underwwater, for one thing. And I don't knoww wwhy you're askin' all the fuckin' questions wwhen I'm the prince."

"Note that." Doc Scratch tried again. "You and Miss Peixes have fabricated the belief that we are in the palace you grew up in."

"I think _you _fabricated the belief that you're _not _in our palace," Feferi pitched in. She patted Eridan on the shoulder; he clung to her hand.

"We'll address the matter again in singles therapy," Doc Scratch decided. "Let's see. Mr. Vantas, you're next. After being abused by your father for most of your childhood, you have developed schizoid personality disorder. Do you disagree?"

"No. But who gives a fuck?" He scowled and sank in his seat. "Great. I'm legally crazy. Whoop-de-fucking-do."

"But if you would accept treatment, you could learn to manage the illness."

Karkat barked a laugh and stood up; several Tasers were aimed at his back almost instantly. "Fuck this shit. I want to leave."

"Very well. Guards, take him."

Karkat was escorted from the room. I scribbled the exchange down as Doc Scratch continued. "How about you, Miss Megido? You witnessed your mother's death and now — how do you put it? You believe you hear 'the voices of the dead.' You actually have severe schizophrenia. Do you disagree?"

"They won't stop talking." She cupped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. Sollux whispered something to her; she cracked a smile.

"You believe they won't stop talking, when they are not actually speaking at all. They do not exist."

She shook her head in response and stayed quiet. Doc Scratch waited for me to finish writing before continuing. "Mr. Captor. Although most seem to think you are 'bipolar,' I happen to know that you have dissociative identity disorder. You can become rude and forget your actions when under the influence of your 'other half.' Do you disagree?"

Sollux casually flipped him the finger and asked to leave. His wish was granted.

"Miss Maryam, your perfectionism has taken over your life. Do you disagree?"

She regarded him coolly. "The top button of your shirt is chipped in half."

Someone snickered at the observation, possibly Terezi. Doc Scratch huffed something that sounded like "Details."

"Mr. Zahhak," the doctor said. "Your GAD has caused you to lose control of your actions in public and injured many people. During a particularly violent episode, you killed a man with one punch to the skull. Do you disagree?"

A sheen of blue sweat appeared on Equius's skin. "I don't want to be in this chair anymore," he wheezed, straining against his binds. "I need a towel."

The doctor sighed again. "Miss Pyrope. You were blinded by an unnamed individual and now experience posttraumatic stress disorder. Your schizophrenia has also developed into a serious issue. Do you disagree?"

She only laughed, a cackle of a laugh that scratched my ears.

"Tasteful," Doc Scratch sniffed. "Miss Serket, I trust you will cooperate today?"

He received a rude hand gesture in response.

"Very well, then. You have been diagnosed as a sociopath by every doctor in this facility. You stabbed your abusive mother in the throat with a kitchen knife. You're a gambler. Need I say more?" He waited. "No? Perhaps you are all unprepared to hear the truth."

He beckoned to Gamzee's guards. "I don't want to discuss his condition in front of the other patients. Bring him to my office."

Doc Scratch held out a hand to me; I dropped the clipboard into it. He read the notes I'd taken — _how? Where are his _eyes_?_ — and nodded. "Well done, Mr. Egbert. You're free to leave, if Ms. Paint doesn't need anything." He departed.

I made a face at his back. What an asshole. For a head doctor, he was pretty bad at dealing with his patients. I paused at the doorway. The guards were escorting the trolls out of their seats. They all looked miserable, but maybe I was developing a bias.

I found Dave, Rose, and Jade in the cafeteria, lounging on the tables. Rose picked up on my irked expression.

"Was it really awful?" she asked gently.

"_Extremely_ awful." I perched on the edge of the table next to Dave. "Doc Scratch is probably the worst doctor in the history of forever."

Jade almost gasped; she was very open with her emotions, as always. "Why? He seemed so nice!"

"You'd think, right? But he's a darn good actor. He lectures _us_ about their 'delicate states of mind,' and then he turns around and tells them they're all sickos. I could barely listen."

"The man is corrupt," Dave chipped in. "Whatever. We're all finished up for the day. Also, big news."

"Oh? Lay it on me."

He cracked his knuckles. "Well, we're all almost eighteen, and since we're coming around so much, Ms. Paint offered us part-time jobs. Paid and everything."

"Awesome!"

"Hells yeah." He stood, stretched. "We're heading out now. Ready to go?"

"Sure am."

Later, when I was tossing in bed and trying to sleep, I thought of the Veil.


End file.
